3D Printer

[Kilrah]

I have a Sidewinder X1, no mods apart from custom firmware, bought it precisely becasue I wanted a printer I didn't have to mod, already done enough of that in the past... and it seemed like a good candidate.

[Salacious B Crum]

50 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

I have a Sidewinder X1, no mods apart from custom firmware, bought it precisely becasue I wanted a printer I didn't have to mod, already done enough of that in the past... and it seemed like a good candidate.

Cool I'll have a look I'm still amazed at the print quality I've been getting at .2mm very happy so far I guess I saw so much crap on youtube that my expectations were lower than they are now I'm outta work until at least April 4th so plenty of time to learn a bit while i'm bored my machine is heavily modded now just because I wanted to tinker

[W-L]

4 hours ago, mrbilky said:

-SNIP-

50-60C is pretty much spot on for PLA in terms of bed temp, and you want to leave it running through the print ideally.

 

if you want to print with materials like ABS you really need to keep the surroundings warm around 30C I find works well but the main thing is getting really good adhesion to the bed. I personally just the old fashion method of applying glue stick but there are better products out there. You can use other materials such as ASA which have similar or better properties to ABS but does still suffer from warping. 

[Salacious B Crum]

18 minutes ago, W-L said:

50-60C is pretty much spot on for PLA in terms of bed temp, and you want to leave it running through the print ideally.

 

if you want to print with materials like ABS you really need to keep the surroundings warm around 30C I find works well but the main thing is getting really good adhesion to the bed. I personally just the old fashion method of applying glue stick but there are better products out there. You can use other materials such as ASA which have similar or better properties to ABS but does still suffer from warping. 

This may sound dumb but has anyone tried having say a hairdryer pointing at the print on some nominal setting while doing ABS outside of an enclosure? Right now my office is sitting at 81f so 27c not sure I'm into the idea of having it higher as my summer is in route here in the NE of old USA and right now due to space constraints my printer is basically under the HVAC vent I'm thinking of experimenting with a pvc duct contraption that can provide heat around the print bed for the duration without the need for an enclosure, what do you think pipe dream or possibility

[W-L]

2 minutes ago, mrbilky said:

This may sound dumb but has anyone tried having say a hairdryer pointing at the print on some nominal setting while doing ABS outside of an enclosure? Right now my office is sitting at 81f so 27c not sure I'm into the idea of having it higher as my summer is in route here in the NE of old USA and right now due to space constraints my printer is basically under the HVAC vent I'm thinking of experimenting with a pvc duct contraption that can provide heat around the print bed for the duration without the need for an enclosure, what do you think pipe dream or possibility

I find with a heated bed and a proper enclosure it can stay pretty warm, you can preheat the bed for a few mind before you being to help get things going which is normally what I do for ABS with a makeshift cover I place overtop of the unit to keep some of the warmth in.  

 

It really needs an enclosure for temps to stay consistent and even throughout the print if it cool faster on one side than the other it will warp.

 

I personally leave the prints inside stuck to the bed and let them cool over the next hour if I do any ABS as that tends to help with warping from what I have experienced. Unless you need to use ABS I would recommend other materials like PLA, PETG or ASA which all have less hassle than ABS. What are you planning on making or designing exactly?

[Salacious B Crum]

2 minutes ago, W-L said:

I find with a heated bed and a proper enclosure it can stay pretty warm, you can preheat the bed for a few mind before you being to help get things going which is normally what I do for ABS with a makeshift cover I place overtop of the unit to keep some of the warmth in.  

 

It really needs an enclosure for temps to stay consistent and even throughout the print if it cool faster on one side than the other it will warp.

 

I personally leave the prints inside stuck to the bed and let them cool over the next hour if I do any ABS as that tends to help with warping from what I have experienced. Unless you need to use ABS I would recommend other materials like PLA, PETG or ASA which all have less hassle than ABS. What are you planning on making or designing exactly?

I do allot of micro controller projects and would like a outdoor exposure filament I actually I have no commitment to ABS just after reading its outdoor exposure quality and strength I bought 1 roll to toy with i'll get a look at ASA not familiar with that one, I have PETG but have not played too much with it when I've used it the first layer or two have been questionable kinda fuzzy if you will, but after subsequent layers it works itself out kinda ironing out but I have to spend more time with it to dial it in I'm sure I can get a 1st layer without the issues I've experienced thus far since I was dealing with a high spot on my bed by the end of this month I will be an expert all things 3D as I can't go back to work before then 

[Windows9]

On 3/10/2020 at 10:16 PM, BrinkGG said:

developed a random drift

Looks like skipped steps to me. Check the eccentric nuts on all axis and make sure no mechanical part is too tight or loose

[Windows9]

4 hours ago, manikyath said:

PLA i dont ever print before my heated bed is above 50°c

I have a PEI sheet and initially taught I could print with no heated bed but learnt the hard way. half a roll of wasted filament

[W-L]

16 minutes ago, mrbilky said:

I do allot of micro controller projects and would like a outdoor exposure filament I actually I have no commitment to ABS just after reading its outdoor exposure quality and strength I bought 1 roll to toy with i'll get a look at ASA not familiar with that one, I have PETG but have not played too much with it when I've used it the first layer or two have been questionable kinda fuzzy if you will, but after subsequent layers it works itself out kinda ironing out but I have to spend more time with it to dial it in I'm sure I can get a 1st layer without the issues I've experienced thus far since I was dealing with a high spot on my bed by the end of this month I will be an expert all things 3D as I can't go back to work before then 

If it's going to get outdoor exposure then you definitely want a UV resistant plastics like ASA, most ABS types will degrade under UV light.

 

PETG is also a good option it's a very tough plastic where it will bend and deform heavily instead of cracking or shattering while being UV resistant. Main thing you will see with PETG is stringing or stickiness when printing compared to ABS or PLA, of course you will need to experiment but I find printing it slightly hotter than PLA at around 220C or so tends to do the best. Downside with PETG is it isn't as stiff so if you are using it for structural purposes it's not the best compared to PLA or ASA. 

[Kilrah]

My SFF case (see signature) is printed all in PETG. Both for temperature and shatter resistance, that PC is made to be carried in my suitcase when I travel for work (i.e. not now, it's folding at the moment...)

My previous case was a bought one made of acrylic and it shattered on the 2nd trip, I made 5 with this one so far and it's still intact

 

I'm reprinting one these days regardless as I made some improvements, firstly to fastening becasue screwing into plastic is a bit meh, I'm embedding nuts now, and I'm also integrating a 7-port USB hub under the GPU.

 

PETG is commonly mentioned as an ABS replacement, easier to print and similar in terms of flexibility/temperature resistance.

[Salacious B Crum]

Well I spent the day tuning my machine and think I have PETG finally dialed in upped the nozzle to 240c the bed temp to 70c now I'm sure I could dial that back after the glass reaches temp but for testing that worked, boy this stuff is stringy and not due to retraction settings its like cotton candy and on occasion the nozzle will pick it up and deposit it in the print somewhere. Did a calibration cube and turned out nice. As to brand of filament right now I'm trying to stay brand loyal with HATCHBOX for nothing more than trying to stay consistent what am I gaining/missing with some of the more expensive brands?

[W-L]

2 hours ago, mrbilky said:

Well I spent the day tuning my machine and think I have PETG finally dialed in upped the nozzle to 240c the bed temp to 70c now I'm sure I could dial that back after the glass reaches temp but for testing that worked, boy this stuff is stringy and not due to retraction settings its like cotton candy and on occasion the nozzle will pick it up and deposit it in the print somewhere. Did a calibration cube and turned out nice. As to brand of filament right now I'm trying to stay brand loyal with HATCHBOX for nothing more than trying to stay consistent what am I gaining/missing with some of the more expensive brands?

I'd recommend to try and run it a little lower on the nozzle temp since it is a stringy material it tends to ooze or have blobs if it's overly fluid of molten. Z hop can also help with the stringing since it pulls up and away before moving to the next section and going back down to add more filament. 

 

In terms of filament brand it's really dependent on the individual's experience and how they setup their machine since there are so many variable. The filaments I've used which I like would be Solutech and Overture, 

[Kilrah]

PETG nozzle temp needs careful tuning, play with it a bit and you should be able to avoid strings.

[Salacious B Crum]

Thanks for the input guys I'll be working on it again today so if I'm reading right it seems consistent diameter is a of big importance with filament quality would that be the number one issue also seems like quality of the spool being correctly spooled to prevent pinching is another any other major differences to look at the reasoning behind sticking with one brand has been the idea that tuning would be much less of an issue once dialed in on 1 brand

[Salacious B Crum]

So just an update on my adventures with my printer, had my first major failure sort of, I dialed in my settings for PETG and was good with that so I switched back to PLA I did a hot pull at PETG temps and purged the nozzle seemed good set up for a print that was relatively long (6 hours) and let it do its thing came back to find the extruder end of the PTFE tube had pulled out and the printer just went about its business I suspect that there was prolly some residual PETG in the nozzle area and since I backed the temps down to PLA it created too much pressure was able to save all the filament so no total loss still printing fantastic really happy on that front BLTouch is doing its thing still want to change out the bed springs the factory springs to me are too weak and easily go out of adjustment all in all havin fun

[Salacious B Crum]

1 hour ago, James Evens said:

Depending on the pneumatic coupler a zip tie helps.

It is recommended to clean/swap nozzle when changing material but I don't do that. Heat up and purge until the new material is there. Didn't had any issues until now (or at least not significant enough to spend the extra time cleaning the nozzle in between materials).

Yeah its kinda difficult to confirm when its purged when installing a dark color filament on top of another its a learning curve but its been a good one I needed a large caliper (36+ inches) for a job while this epidemic thing is going on quick search found a print designed for a yard stick and longer worked perfect for my application I ripped a 6 foot 2x4 down to dimension and cost pennies to make another check in the win column for me 

 

Oh and appreciate immensely the input you guys are offering it has reduced the learning curve a ton!

[Salacious B Crum]

So things have been going well with all this time on my hands really getting this machine down, now the the big question I have the money for simplify3d is it really worth it does it really do a much better job than cura? what am I really missing without it?

[manikyath]

5 minutes ago, mrbilky said:

So things have been going well with all this time on my hands really getting this machine down, now the the big question I have the money for simplify3d is it really worth it does it really do a much better job than cura? what am I really missing without it?

i recall hearing some negative comments about simplify3d lately, but i'd have to go dig it out to see whatever it was.

[Kilrah]

Very happy to have bought it when I did some 4 years ago, but since then free slicers have progressed quite a bit so might not be that worth it anymore...

[Salacious B Crum]

39 minutes ago, manikyath said:

i recall hearing some negative comments about simplify3d lately, but i'd have to go dig it out to see whatever it was.

 

39 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

Very happy to have bought it when I did some 4 years ago, but since then free slicers have progressed quite a bit so might not be that worth it anymore...

Yeah I have seen some pretty reliable youtuber's stating some of the downfall I guess freeware has closed the gap just wondering if it was just better options or if it greatly improved finish quality in the slicing gcode

[Kilrah]

Simplify3d just hasn't evolved that much or quickly.

When I bought it it was the reference for support generation, and that's exactly why I bought it for, after tearing my hair with Cura, Slic3r etc with painful supports that would always either stick too much or too little. First print with supports with S3D, no problem.

 

I haven't tested the others much recently since I have S3D and it works/is tuned pretty well for my machines. Just helped a friend with current Cura recently and while a bit messy it worked fine. Didn't try supports...

[manikyath]

Just now, Kilrah said:

Simplify3d just hasn't evolved that much or quickly.

When I bought it it was the reference for support generation, and that's exactly why I bought it for, after tearing my hair with Cura, Slic3r etc with painful supports that would always either stick too much or too little. First print with supports with S3D, no problem.

 

I haven't tested the others much recently since I have S3D and it works/is tuned pretty well for my machines. Just helped a friend with current Cura recently and while a bit messy it worked fine. Didn't try supports...

depending on the stupidity of the model (cant fix user error in software ) and my printer tune, i've had quite a good experience with supports in cura. there's just about endless options for configuring it, its mostly a matter of experience with what your printer can and cant do.

[Kilrah]

Just configure it not to talk to the printer.

[Kilrah]

Well it depends what printer / connection you're using...

I never configure monitoring/control in the programs, just save file and move to the printer with an SD